Definition and Development of Compound Seasonings

As a newly emerging sub-industry of seasonings, compound seasonings have achieved rapid development in recent years. From the perspective of the product life cycle, compound seasonings are currently in their early stages of development. Compounding will be the main development trend in the seasoning industry in the future. On the one hand, the compounding of seasonings allows young families to cook delicious food conveniently and quickly, solving their pain points of not knowing how to cook or not having the time to cook; on the other hand, the demand from the catering industry is increasing day by day, and standardized and chain operations have led to rapid growth in the demand for standardized compound seasonings.

As a newly emerging sub-industry of seasonings, compound seasonings have achieved rapid development in recent years. From the perspective of the product life cycle, compound seasonings are currently in the early stages of development. In the future, compounding will be the main development trend in the seasoning industry. On the one hand, the compounding of seasonings allows young families to cook delicious meals conveniently and quickly, solving the pain points of not knowing how to cook or having no time to cook; on the other hand, the increasing demand in the catering industry and the standardized and chain operations have led to rapid growth in the demand for standardized compound seasonings.

Definition and Classification of Seasonings

1. Definition of Seasonings and Compound Seasonings

Seasonings are auxiliary foods that can enhance the color, aroma, and taste of dishes, stimulate appetite, and benefit human health. Compound seasonings are made from basic seasonings and processed into seasonings with special flavors. Chinese cuisine emphasizes the "five tastes" of sour, sweet, bitter, spicy, and salty, and cooking is characterized by complex flavors. It is only through the compounding and adjustment of different proportions of seasonings that deliciousness can be achieved; hence the emergence of compound seasonings.

2. National Standard Classification

According to the national standard "Classification of Seasonings" (GB/T20903-2007) approved by the State Administration of Standardization, seasonings can be classified by end product into 17 categories: edible salt, sugar, soy sauce, vinegar, MSG, sesame oil, sauces, fermented black beans, fermented tofu, fish sauce, oyster sauce, shrimp sauce, olive oil, seasoning wine, spices and spice seasonings, compound seasonings, and hot pot seasonings.

3. Other Classifications

By product components, they can be divided into basic seasonings and compound seasonings;

By taste sensation, they can be divided into salty, sweet, fresh, sour, and spicy seasonings;

By local flavor, they can be divided into Sichuan-style, Cantonese-style, Western-style, and other local flavors.

With the development of commercial society, people's quality of life has improved, the pace of life has accelerated, and changes in dietary structure have led to a significant increase in the variety of seasonings, penetrating into the food and catering industries. The increase in per capita single-use amount of seasonings has led to continuous growth in the industry's revenue scale; consumer upgrading is the main driving force behind the continuous improvement of industry revenue and profitability.

History of China's Compound Seasoning Industry

1. Before 1990—Initial Stage

China achieved mass industrial production of compound seasonings between the 1930s and 1970s, but at that time, the term "compound seasoning" was not yet used as a dedicated product name. China officially began using the term "compound seasoning" in the early 1980s.

Between 1982 and 1983, the Tianjin Seasoning Research Institute developed "Eight Dishes and One Soup" compound seasonings (shrimp stir-fry seasoning, curry chicken seasoning, braised pork seasoning, shrimp and tofu seasoning, sweet and sour fish seasoning, fish-flavored shredded pork seasoning, tomato pork seasoning, spicy chicken seasoning, and hot and sour soup seasoning) for cooking Chinese dishes, and began using the dedicated product name "compound seasoning".

In 1987, the China Food Industry Association officially formulated the standard "Terms and Conditions for Seasonings (ZB X 66005-1987)", which defined and regulated the standard terms and definitions of compound seasonings. In the mid-to-late 1980s, meat bone paste powder production enterprises with independent R&D and production technologies emerged rapidly in China. These products, produced using the Maillard reaction and enzymatic hydrolysis technology, have a rich meaty and roasted aroma, which are favored by consumers.

2. 1990-1999—Rapid Development Stage

After 1990, driven by various new policies and continuous improvements in production technologies, China's compound seasoning industry entered a period of rapid development. In the early 1990s, the technology for producing high-grade natural seasoning bases such as yeast extract and meat extract was realized domestically, providing a wider selection of raw materials for compound seasonings and leading to an increasingly rich variety of compound seasonings. Novel seasonings such as special fresh MSG, sweeteners, yeast extracts, and edible flavors and fragrances appeared.

At the same time, international compound seasoning companies began to Enter China. While this had a significant impact on the development of China's domestic compound seasoning enterprises, international compound seasoning capital not only brought huge amounts of capital but also brought advanced management methods, marketing strategies, novel products, and forward-looking consumption concepts to China's compound seasoning industry, greatly promoting the upgrading of consumption and the rapid development of the industry.

3. High-Speed Development Stage Since 2000

In 2007, the China Food Industry Association released "Classification of Seasonings (GB/T20903-2007)", which redefined and reclassified compound seasonings, greatly promoting the development of China's compound seasoning industry. In 2007, China's fermented products and seasoning enterprises achieved a total output value of 91.4 billion yuan, with the growth rate of compound seasonings as high as 20%, the fastest-growing category among all seasonings. At the same time, a number of well-known seasoning enterprises have emerged in China, such as Foshan Haitian Flavoring & Food Company Limited, Shanghai Taste Better Food Co., Ltd., Guangdong Jialong Food Co., Ltd., Henan Wang Suoyi Thirteen Fragrances Group, Shanxi Shuita Company, etc.

Compound Seasoning Market

Trend Analysis

1. Product Innovation is the Driving Force for Market Opening

The driving force of consumption and changes in consumption patterns have brought about the need for innovation in compound seasoning products. The post-90s and post-00s generations, as well as some housewives who pay attention to taste, have become the target consumer groups. These consumer groups not only want to eat delicious food but also want to eat with taste. This has driven the continuous innovation and iteration of new product R&D and product concepts. At the same time, the new demand for consumer experience, new retail, and various scene experiences have provided opportunities for product innovation. Many food processing stores combined with customized seasonings have become the mainstream of experiential consumption, such as steak houses, Japanese restaurants, and seafood restaurants.

2. Intelligent Manufacturing Has Obvious Advantages

The advantages of intelligent manufacturing in the production of seasoning enterprises are obvious and will become a trend. This has a significant promoting effect on simplifying processes, improving efficiency, enhancing quality, and strengthening safety control. At the same time, intelligent management will promote a qualitative breakthrough and leap in the production technology of the entire industry.

3. The Transformation from Multi-Channel Overlap to New Retail Integration

There are three main sales channels for condiments: home kitchens, the catering industry, and food processing. Food processing is a non-consumer terminal sale, where condiments are added as upstream products to other food processing stages, such as spicy strips, bean products, and bean product processing. The main consumer terminals are home kitchens and the catering industry. Currently, the structure of these three traditional channels remains unchanged, as does their core content. What has changed are the operational methods and business models. The emergence of new formats in home consumption and catering channels has led to new marketing methods.

① Offline sales, in addition to traditional methods, have also seen some new changes. One is associative marketing, such as placing wasabi next to sushi and seafood sauce next to seafood in Hema Fresh. Another is joint marketing, such as the strategic alliance between Taste Good chicken essence and Xuhongfei eggs. A third is bundled marketing, where websites such as Meicai, Youcai, Ele.me, and Meituan, through online-offline integration, have created new marketing channels for condiments. With the rapid development of the catering industry, light catering and slow living have become new highlights, and condiments customized for these new catering methods have also gained significant development space.

② Online-offline combined marketing has also seen new approaches: online-offline integration has shifted from omni-channel to new retail. Omni-channel is the superposition of online and offline channels, while new retail represents the integration of online and offline. The formation of the new retail landscape has broken down the boundaries between online and offline sales, achieving seamless integration. Online ordering and offline delivery allow products to reach consumers quickly.

4. Customized condiments will be a new favorite in the next two years.

Customized products originate from channel needs. Different channels have different product needs, and different consumption methods also create development space for product customization. Customized condiments include customized home condiments and customized catering condiments, especially customized catering condiments, which have huge market potential. The main types of customized catering condiments include customized condiments for personalized dishes, customized condiments for light catering, and standardized customized condiments for chain enterprises.